


Searching

by Veridissima



Series: Westeros, Full of Marks [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1996362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veridissima/pseuds/Veridissima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a boy turns eighteen in Westeros, he's probably going to find something about himself, that not everyone wants to find out. This is what happens when three orphans boy from Flea Bottom decide to search deeper on their findings. </p><p>Fills for the Arya and Gendry Week 2014 - Forbidden (Second Day - First Chapter), Rain (Third Day - Second Chapter), Dream (Fourth Day - Third Chapter), and Tempted (Seventh Day - Fourth Chapter).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forbidden

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a multi-chapter fic, probably four chapters for four of the prompts (while I have the next one written and it’ll be publish it in time; I’m not finished with the other two, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to publish it on the day).  
> So this first chapter is the fill for the prompt of the second day of the Arya and Gendry Week 2014 – Forbidden.  
> Also as a warning, while this is a Gendrya fic, there will be more Gendry than Arya, especially for the first chapters. This is a fic about his journey to her.  
> English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes. And I don’t own ASOIAF, of course.  
> Enjoy!!

Gendry was once again looking up to the ceiling, wondering about the fucked up world they lived in, when one of his roommates appeared and threw a package of chips at him.

“Thinking about it again,” his friend said, and Gendry only nodded. “Come on, you can’t be that way – it will drive you crazy.”

“But don’t you wonder about it?”

“Of course I do,” he said, bringing his right ankle closer to him. “But I know it’s meant to be, and it will happen someday.”

“But what if something happens to her? How would I know?”

“I don’t know, Gen, you just have to have faith that everything will work out.”

Gendry rested back in the bed, with his hands behind his head, when they heard the bell rang, telling them it was time for dinner.

“Man, hide the chips under your mattress. Mine is already full with beer and tequila.”

They walked downstairs to find the canteen already full with boys, with ages between two and twenty.

“Gendry was thinking about it again, Jon,” Aegon said taking a seat next to their other roommate.

“Leave him alone, Aegon. We all know how obsessed you were when you got yours. Gendry just got his less than three weeks ago – he has the right to go a bit nuts,” Jon said, bringing his hands to the table, where everyone could see his bandaged left wrist.

“Still maybe we should help him; we both have been through this. Don’t make the same mistake as Jon, you shouldn’t break up with Jeyne, she’s a sweet girl and you like her,” Aegon told him, both remembering how only a few months before Jon had broken up with his long term girlfriend, Ygritte. “You already did it, didn’t you?” Aegon said, after looking at his face for awhile.

“Yes. She was really nice about it, she said she understood.”

“Lucky you,” Jon said, Ygritte had stabbed him in the leg (not deep enough to leave much damage, but still) and had burned him with the cigarette she had been smoking.

“It just didn’t feel right to be with her… with it… after it happened,” Sometimes Gendry wished it had been Jeyne’s, everything would be simpler then – they could get married and built a life together.

“So, you two are just going to put your life on hold?”

“And you don’t?” Jon asked him.

“Only last Monday, I and the girl from the coffee house hooked up,” he told them firmly.

“Hooked up, that’s what always is. When was the last time you went on a date or even just really talked to a girl? More than year, right?” Jon asked him, and Aegon couldn’t deny it, and then Jon asked in a lower voice. “Do you even have sex without your socks on?”

“So okay, maybe I’m not moving on,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But at least, I don’t sit around and do nothing.”

“I’m not doing nothing. I’m working at the _Night’s Watch_ bar.”

“And I work at Tobho’s auto shop. Tell me when was the last time you put your pretty body to work?”

“Shut up. I did that fishing gig like last month.”

“Three months ago, Aegon.”

“You too are fucking assholes,” he said pushing his chair back and stood up.

“Hey!! You know the rules, Aegon. No standing up before everyone has finished eating. You’re washing plates tonight,” said one of the oldest women, who had been working in the orphanage since before Gendry made it here.

Gendry and Jon laughed, seeing Aegon’s mad face when he sat back down, and decided to turn to talk with other people at the table.

“Snow and Waters, you too. Don’t dare say you weren’t laughing,” said now one of the men, one of the youngest.

And now the two were pouting as well, since it meant they would have to wash dishes for more than twenty kids and the adults who took care of them.

But as always, the three of them ended up having more fun than they should, while they worked quickly – Aegon washed, Jon dried and Gendry put the stuff away – and it was when Gendry was again distracted, thinking about it, that Aegon threw water at his face, with a bit of soap.

“Don’t do that,” Jon protested.

“Why?!”

“You’ll ruin the kitchen,” Jon said.

“Do you really think so, Snow?” Aegon told him, while threw soap and water into Jon’s hair as well.

“Ohhh… don’t do that. You can’t ruin Jon’s pretty hair,” Gendry told Aegon, who laughed and fist bumped him.

“Good one.”

“This is bullying in case you don’t know,” Jon protested, and both his friends just slapped him in the head.

“So how is it going? Almost done?” A woman asked, as she entered the kitchen.

“Yes, Mrs. D.”

“We just put a movie on, if you want to join after you’re done.”

The boys did, after finishing in the kitchen. But Gendry wasn’t paying any attention to the movie, wondering about other stuff, again. It was some animation movie, with a couple as protagonists, and Gendry wondered that _she_ could be like that – like the princess, dancing, singing and wearing beautiful dresses. Aegon noticing he was distracted again, slapped him in over the head, and called for one of the youngest children to keep Gendry’s company, so he would stop thinking about it.

* * *

 

It had been over a month since it first showed up, and Gendry couldn’t stop thinking about it. So today, after Aegon came back from his four-day-long fishing gig, Gendry knew he needed to speak with them, they were changing for sleep, and while he changed his shirt, he was able to catch his reflection on the mirror – since it happened he stopped walking around without a shirt, something he used to do a lot before.

He traced it, before taking a deep breath and asked,

“What if we just go?”

“What?!” He wasn’t sure which one of them asked.

“We are over eighteen. We can get out, we should be out – most orphanages kick the kids out when they turn 18, and you’re almost 20, Aegon.”

“And what would we do?” Aegon asked, sitting down in his bed.

“We go look for it. We find what it means.”

“It’s forbidden,” Jon said. “It’s against any Gods. The New, the Old, the Red God or the Drowned God – it’s punishable.”

“For fuck’s sake, we have lived a fucked up life. They took my mom, when I was four – fucking four years old – the little I remember of her, it’s her loosing her hair and throwing up in the toilet. Tell me what do the Gods can take for me now?” Gendry told them, he wanted to yell and punch something. “And you, Aegon, your parents were murdered. Jon, your mother died giving birth to you, and your father didn’t give a fuck, neither did mine, okay. So tell me what can the Gods take from us?” Gendry asked them, and neither of them had an answer, because they only had each other. “There’s someone out there who will love you. Don’t you want to find her?”

“I do, I really do. But you’ve heard stories about the people who tried,” Jon said sincerely.

“But I want to try. I can’t stay here, knowing she’s out there somewhere.”

“She can even not be born yet, you know absolutely nothing about her. She could be happy,” Aegon said.

“But she could be miserable, she could need someone,” and then he looked down and continued. “I need someone,” he said sitting on the floor against his bed.

“You have us,” Jon said dropping his hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, Jon is right, you have us. So if you’re fucking with the Gods, the only thing that they can take from you is Jon or me,” Aegon said, and while Gendry had never thought about it that way, it was the true – they were his family.

But what happened after surprised him. Aegon took off his right sock, something he rarely did in front of other people, even in front of Jon or Gendry who knew what was there, and said,

“So it’s only responsible of us to go with you. To make sure we’re still alive.”

“You, too??” Jon asked surprised. “Don’t you understand it’s against the law? Gods’ law.”

“Do you know it wasn’t any of the Gods who wrote it? Men wrote it, and who are they to say what we can and can’t do?!” Aegon said, before dropping his hand on Jon’s wrist and mouthed _take it_. “And look at it, and tell me you don’t want to go.”

Jon unwrapped his wrist slowly, the bandage went around for many turns, before it was visible, Jon looked down and traced it, before whispering.

“It’s a crazy idea... But I’m in.”

So in the poorest part of King’s Landing, in the room 7 of the Flea Bottom’s Orphanage, three boys barely out of adolescence made a decision, to defy what the books said and follow their marks, because…

…Because in a beautiful but simple cursive writing, Jon had _Joy_ marked in his left wrist. In cursive letter too, such as beautiful but more complicated, the name _Myrcella_ made its way around Aegon’s ankle. And Gendry could catch in the mirror the reflection of his mark, just in the top of his chest, the left side; it read _Arya_ in manuscript writing that seemed more aggressive than any of the others – and he dreamed of meeting the girl behind it.


	2. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the new chapter - a fill for the prompt "Rain", from the third day of the Arya and Gendry Week 2014.  
> I remind you I don't own ASOIAF. And that English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes.  
> Also it was called to my attention, that some of you may not know who Joy (the name on Jon's wrist is), so she's Joy Hill, who's the bastard daughter of Gerion Lannister – Tywin Lannister's youngest brother who got lost in the Free Cities when Joy was little.  
> Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

The next morning, when Gendry woke up, he couldn't help but notice, that unlike any other day, they had slept with their marks revealed, Aegon's right foot dangled from under his covers, with the letters facing Gendry; like always, Jon was almost falling from the top bunk, but what was different was that her name was unwrapped for all to see; and Gendry had slept without a shirt something he hadn't done in some time – he did regret it now because it was damn cold.

When Jon woke up, he jumped from his bunk and looked out of the window and noticed it was raining, and he immediately wondered if it was a sign from the Gods that they should stay.

"Don't be stupid, Jon," Aegon said, with his eyes still closed. "You aren't chicken out, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Jon said, looking at his wrist.

"Just worrying then," Aegon said, putting his socks on before leaving the bed. While Jon reached for the bandage for his wrist, and Gendry put on a shirt before going to the bathroom, to shower before breakfast.

* * *

Breakfast was over, and they couldn't wait anymore, so the three of them made their way to the main office, taking a deep breath; and Jon was the one to knock on the door.

"Come in," the older woman said, and the boys opened the door. "Aegon, Jon and Gendry, what brings you here?"

"We need to talk to you, ma'am," Gendry said. "Firstly, we liked to thank you for taking us on, and paying for school and everything."

"Especially after we turned eighteen," Aegon said, before Jon added.

"Yeah, we know that money is tight, and that most people would throw us out when we turned eighteen."

"We love having you here. And you always help with everything, and with your jobs it's always more money coming in," the lady said.

"I guess," Aegon said.

"But so what brings you here today? I guess you it's not just to say thank you."

"We've been thinking, and we think it's time for us to leave," Gendry said, and the lady only laughed. "Why are you laughing?"

"Everyone was sure you were waiting for Gendry to turn 18. There was a bet going on about how much time would take – I had six months. You three just cost me fifty bucks."

"Sorry, ma'am."

"No problem, boys. Do you have any idea about what you're going to do?" The boys shared a look but neither said anything. "Ohhh… you don't want to tell me. Okay. Just don't get into much trouble; we can't be there anymore to save your asses."

"Yes, Mrs. Mott."

"Okay, when do you plan on leaving?" Gendry traded a look with them, knowing that they hadn't really thought about it – okay, maybe _he_ hadn't, because Jon had an answer.

"Between one week and two weeks. I think we have to finish with our jobs, quit, count our money and make a solid plan."

"Yes, that seems good," Aegon and Gendry said.

"Ohhh… boys. You're lucky to have Jon with you, at least he thinks ahead of time. But can we announce it tonight? I'm sure some of the younger boys will want to spend time with you and say goodbye.

"Of course, which ever you think best," Jon said.

"So we will announce it tonight at dinner. You can go now, Gendry and Jon, I would advise you to go talk with your bosses. Aegon, you, stay, I need to talk to you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Mott, see you later. Bye, Aegon, we'll text you when we were done."

"See you later."

And with that, both boys left the room, and went up to their room to get their wallets and cell phones.

"What do you think she needs to talk with Aegon?" Gendry asked.

"No idea. Maybe because he's the oldest," Jon suggested.

"I think she knows you and I are more responsible than him."

"Maybe. So what are you going to tell Mr. Mott?"

"That we are going away. Ask him what he needs me to do for these last few days, and if he wants me to help any of the boys around. You know that Mrs. Mott is the one that normally suggest kids to work with Tobho. You?"

"Quit, I suppose. Say goodbye to Sam, Edd, Grenn and Pyp. I'm afraid that Mormont will be disappointed," Jon said, while they walked through the door of the orphanage, each with their umbrella.

"No way. Mormont always had high hopes for you."

"I think he wanted to pass me the bar."

"You can always come back. This is temporary, we find them, and if you want to build a life here you can."

"Sure. I think I'm going to ask the boys if they can lend us some camping stuff – we can't afford motels every night. Also what are we going to do about transportation?"

"Do you know that car I told you about? That I was working on in my free time," Jon nodded. "Okay, I hadn't said anything, because I wasn't giving him as finished yet. But it can perfectly work now, all functional; now I was just saving money to give it a paint job. But I don't think either of you cares about that…"

"Of course not," Jon said. "That's amazing, Gendry. You actually fixed a car almost from scratch," he said, pulling for a hug, and made Gendry blush. "Man, that's amazing."

"Thanks, I'll see if I can take a ride today," Gendry said, before they reached the place they would take different turns. "Okay, I'll text Aegon when I'm done and I'll meet you at the bar."

"Sure."

Gendry continued up the Street of Steel, until he reached _Mott's Auto Shop_ , and entered, to be immediately greeted by Tobho.

"Hi, boy. Today is your day off. What are you doing here? I thought the car was done, everything but the painting – which I thought you didn't have. Or did my wife sent you with a message again?"

"Good morning, Tobho. Actually, I just need to talk to you."

"Sure, boy. Can you pass me the screwdriver?" Gendry gave it to him, being reminded of when he started working here, when he couldn't still do anything alone. "So. What do you need, boy?"

"As you know, sir, I just turned eighteen…"

"Ohhh… you're calling me sir, Gendry, you haven't done that in years. And I guess I know what you want to talk about. The missus warned me about this, we just thought we would have more time, but I think not..." He said rolling off from under the car before Gendry interrupted him.

"Tobho…"

"So you and your friends are leaving? When?"

"One week. Two weeks. When we get everything ready. I'll not leave you before I have everything worked out here. Maybe train someone new."

"I already have a boy coming a few days a week and he knows the trait. I just need you to take the stuff from the highest shelves, because neither of us can reach it. Also keep coming to work until you go, and don't tell the girls you're quitting if you do we'll loose business," Tobho told him laughing, Gendry knew that there was always a couple of girls who came to see him, they had been rather disappointed when he stopped working shirtless.

"Sure, Tobho. I'll be here tomorrow on time."

"I'm sure you will, boy."

"And can I take the car?"

"Yes, I suppose. And it seems you won't have time to paint it."

"No. We don't have the time, and I don't have the money for the paint right now. We're just lucky it works."

"I understand, boy. It's in the back as always, you can take it out the back, it may be easier. Go on, I needed to finish this before lunch."

Gendry thanked Tobho and moved further into the shop, his car was the oldest of the shop, a 1996 Volkswagen in red (if you ignore the two blue doors, and the other in green), but Gendry loved it he had put all of his work on him, using his free time from school to fix it.

"How you doing, girl?" He said, touching the car, before going to get the key and opening the shop's back door. "It seems today is the day, you're finally free," he told the car. He had never driven it for more than fifteen minutes, so today would be the real test. He got in the car, and started it, praying for not to be let down, until he heard the sweet motor of his car.

"Come on, girl," he said, while reversing out of the shop, and after a quick run in the rain to close the door, he made his way to the orphanage much quicker than on foot, and feeling excited to finally be driving it. He parked the car in the other side of the street, and texted Aegon.

_I'm downstairs waiting_

_B there in a sec_

Aegon texted him back before even a minute had passed, and he quickly saw his best friend walk out of the orphanage.

_Where r u?_

While he read the text, he did the only think he could think of and honked the car, and Aegon immediately ran his way.

"No way," he said, opening the door. "What the fuck, Gendry?"

"It's not much I know, but at least we have a ride."

"You're kidding, right? This is fucking awesome," he said getting in.

"Thanks, man. So what did Mrs. Mott want with you?"

"I'll tell you at the bar, when we're with Jon."

"Sure, man," Gendry answered, a bit put out by his friend's face.

"Ohh… it's nothing wrong, I promise. It's just big stuff to take in, and I'm still processing it."

"Sure." And Gendry knew it was probably something about his past, they always knew his family had been murdered but no details, he suspected Aegon knew it now.

They drive in silence to the bar, and Gendry excitedly parked the car once again, while Aegon muttered.

"Going to places by car – so cool. Why couldn't you have told us earlier?"

"As you can see, I wouldn't give him as ready."

"Ohhh… shut up," Aegon said, knocking on the pub's door, since it wasn't open to costumers in the morning.

"It's still closed," someone yelled from inside, probably Grenn.

"It's us – Gendry and Aegon."

"Ohh… sorry. Jon is still talking to Mormont, but come in," Pyp said, opening the door.

"Hi, Pyp. Grenn." They said to the two men who were still cleaning from last night.

"Hello, guys. Beer?"

"It's still morning, Grenn," Gendry said.

"Sorry, haven't gone to sleep yet. Chips? Soda?"

"We're okay for now. But thanks. Do you need help?" Gendry offered.

"Nahh… almost done." Pyp said. "Sam is coming to cover for us in half an hour, with Gilly probably."

Sam was probably one of the luckiest guys ever. He had a crush on Gilly, since he met her, but he had never been brave enough to tell her, until he turned eighteen and her name appeared in his belly, and he didn't have another choice – they couldn't be happier.

"Hi, guys, you've arrived," Jon said, coming out from the back and taking a seat with them. "So what did Mrs. Mott need?" Jon asked, and Aegon reached for his pocket and took out a paper he put on the table for them to see. Jon was the one to pick it up for Gendry and him, but neither of them could reach any conclusion.

"What's this?" Gendry asked.

"A bank account. My bank account, it seems my parents left me some money."

"What?!" They exclaimed, making Pyp and Grenn turn their heads to him.

"Be quiet. I don't wanna people to know. It seems my father was Rhaegar Targaryen – you know how the Targaryen family got killed, it seems I'm the only survivor."

"That's a lot to take in," Jon said.

"Fuck… Don't tell me," Aegon replied, rolling his eyes. "So now that you have a car, can you give me a ride to the bank?"

"Sure, after lunch," Gendry said.

They enjoyed their time at the bar, they ate lunch there, while they wondered about the money behind that number, a lot probably – _for fuck's sake, his father was Rhaegar Targaryen_. But it was obvious to Gendry that Aegon had much more in his mind, after all he had just find out it wasn't just his parents who had been killed, but his entire family.

After lunch Jon had planned to stay, since it was his shift, but Sam told him to go with Gendry and Aegon, since there were never many people at this hour, and to come to the bar later on.

They all drove to the bank in the car, with Jon on the back (they would switch in the way back, they had decided after fighting over it).

"You know, now I feel a bit bad that I'm only contributing with the tents," Jon said. "Gendry got us a car, and you, money – how can I compete with that?"

"We still don't know how much money it is. And for sure, we can't sleep on the floor – so tents are needed. Stop putting yourself down, Jon," Aegon told Jon, who had the habit of never thinking he was good enough – not that Gendry could talk, he was the same way.

After a twenty minute drive, they parked in front of the bank, and they walked inside, Gendry felt underdressed, he looked around and noticed the guards moving their hands, so they were right above their guns, and clients holding their purses tighter; looking around, Gendry failed to notice that they had finally arrived to the counter.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"I'm here to see an account I'm suppose to have, left to me by my parents."

"Okay, I'll need your documents and the account documents," Aegon took the paper from his jeans and gave it to the lady, and then looked for his I.D. "You can follow me now, sir. Your friends can wait here," the lady said, while Gendry and Jon were already looking for seats.

"No, they can come with me."

"Sir, it not usually aloud…"

"Can't people be accompanied by family? They are mine," Aegon said, looking hard at the woman, and both Gendry and Aegon shared a look, knowing if the lady said something else, Aegon would over react and yell at her because she was only stopping them based on the way they looked.

"Of course, sir," she ended up saying. They followed Aegon and the lady to a small table, and waited while she inserted the data in the computer.

"Ohhh…" she whispered, looking at the screen. "Okay, sir, I need you to wait here for a few minutes."

"What the fuck just happened?! It was just me, or the woman ran from here?!" Aegon asked, looking at them.

"It wasn't just you. It seemed she had seen a ghost," Gendry said, before they sat back and waited for her to come back.

* * *

They were leaving tomorrow, a week after they decided, and things had changed dramatically, especially in Aegon's life. They were once again all lying in their beds, when Jon asked what Gendry had been thinking for the last few days.

"Do you really still want to go, Aegon? You could have a bright future here."

It seemed he had inherited a lot of money – a lot, more than either of them could ever imagine. And it wasn't just that, after he opened his account (for which he needed to prove to be a Targaryen with a paternity test), the news of the son of Rhaegar Targaryen reached the newspapers and everyone was looking for him, offering even more money, places in prestige colleges and jobs – good jobs, with good money, not what Flea Bottom orphans were used to.

"Sure, I won't. Don't you think I'm letting my best friends go on this fucking journey alone!" He said extending his right leg. "For Myrcella!"

"For Joy!" Jon said, dropping his left arm from his bunk.

"And for Arya!" He said touching his chest. Gendry kept his days imagining her – firstly just physically, short or tall, blond or brunette, etc; and the what she liked, what if she hated cars, especially his, or if they had nothing in common… he had even asked the guys, and Aegon told him he was being stupid – if she was his soulmate they would have something to connect.

And once again, Gendry fell asleep picturing her to the sound of the rain still falling outside.


	3. Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the new chapter. Sorry for the delay  
> And it's for the fourth prompt – Dream  
> I hope you enjoy!

_It looked over a forest, particularly over an enormous tree – wide white trunk and five-pointed red leaves – something he had never seen before. The picture moved closer and closer – like he was just watching a movie – until he saw something even stranger in the tree – it had a face… The eyes looked deep inside his heart, and it was then that he knew what he would see next would be important._

_Not much later footsteps were heard and yells too._

" _Nymeria, wait! Where are you going?!" It couldn't be told who she was calling for, but she appeared in front of the tree, running through the woods when she fell down – immediately he was pulled to her, to help her, but he couldn't move._

_But them something came to her aid, a huge dog jumped on her, and started licking her face._

" _Stop, Nymeria, that tickles…"she said, petting Nymeria's fur. "I'm fine, I promise. Just another scratch."_

_Looking at her, he could tell she was rather small and skinny for her age (at least it seemed she looked to be in her mid-teen years, but he wasn't sure), her hair was dark, and cut by her shoulders (and wild, sticking out from everywhere). Quickly enough Nymeria jumped on her, and started licking the girl's face, and it was possible to see she had grey eyes, and for just a few seconds their eyes locked, and it was then he noticed her shirt – it read Riverrun University._

* * *

 Gendry woke up panting, his heart beat much faster than normal; he quickly sat up, and rested his head on his hands, while trying not to make too much noise when getting his breath under control. Gendry had been sleeping on the couch, while both Aegon and Jon took the two single beds in the room, and finding he couldn't fall asleep again, he stood up, put on some pants and a jacket over his shirt, before leaving the room.

They were staying in some motel in the side of the road, Aegon had the money for more, but after living so many years without much money, he wanted to be careful in case this was all a dream. Gendry moved through the halls of the motel, until he was downstairs, looking up the Stormlands' sky. They had decided to go south and they were nowhere closer to finding something after one month of searching, but one thing was real, the sky was much more beautiful here, without so many lights he could actually see the stars.

"Hey, man, everything okay?" Aegon asked sometime later, taking a seat next to Gendry while he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah. Another nightmare?" Gendry asked Aegon, since Gendry knew that after Aegon found out the truth about his family, it had become rather hard for him to deal with; while he always knew his parents had been murdered, but now he knew the details of it, and that was his entire family and not just his parents.

"Yeah… My sister again…" he said, looking down. "It's just the pictures… and everything…"

"Maybe you should stop looking it up."

"I know, Gen. But I know next to nothing about them, and those articles tell me stories. I now know that my father used to play the piano and the harp, but sister had a kitten called Balerion and she looked like my mother who was a journalist before she married my father."

Gendry listened, and he knew he couldn't blame Aegon for looking stuff up, since he knew he would do the same if there was a chance he would find out more about his mother.

"But now tell me, why did you wake up? It's not like you," Aegon asked.

"I had a dream, and a weird feeling I guess."

"What was the dream, then?"

"A girl," Gendry said.

"And you think it's her?!"

"I don't know, but I can't help but have the feeling that…"

"Fuck… it's her – it must be her, Gendry," Aegon said excited, forgetting his nightmare. "Is there any clue where she could be?"

"In the woods, somewhere, I think... And she had a giant dog with her, and she was wearing a Riverrun College t-shirt."

"Come on, we need to tell Jon. It seems we're going north," Aegon said, finishing his cigarette.

"We don't need to wake him now, Aegon. We can tell Jon tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right. Just go to sleep."

"And you?"

"I'm going to stay here a little bit longer," Aegon said.

"Okay. Sleep well," Gendry said, before going up back to his room. Inside Jon was still sleeping on the bed, not having moved since both his friends left for a bit of air.

Gendry lied down again, after visiting the bathroom, and closed his eyes, wishing to dream of her again. But that didn't happen; he woke up the next morning being shaken by Jon.

"Come on, it's morning. And we're supposed to make it to Storm's End by tonight," _ohhh… yes…_ their plan had been to stay a few days in the Stormlands capital.

"Fuck… be quiet, Jon. I'm trying to sleep," Aegon yelled from his bed, throwing another pillow over his head. "And we're going to Riverrun, instead."

"Why?!" Jon asked, and Gendry couldn't help but stood up.

"I had a dream last night about a girl, wearing a _Riverrun College_ shirt."

"We are changing plans, because you had a dream?!"

"And we were going south based on what logical reason," Aegon asked again for under his pillow. "We threw a coin to the air and went south."

"The south has more people," Jon said.

"Riverrun has too. I'm not talking about the North," Gendry said, and by Jon's face that seemed a good argument.

"Okay, we'll go," Jon said.

"Good," Aegon said. "Now, go get breakfast and let me sleep."

"He slept badly again last night. Just let him sleep a bit longer, I'll wake him up after I shower," Gendry told Jon, before the oldest one left the room to look for breakfast.

Gendry left for the bathroom, took of his clothes, stayed quietly looking at his mark. Now, he actually had a possible face for the name, a girl with dark hair and grey eyes – it wasn't much to go on, but it was something.

He took a quick cold shower, Jon seemed to have used whole the hot water, if there was any before (they had stayed enough motels, to know that sometimes they couldn't get hot water), when he finished he put the towel around his waist and left the bathroom, Jon wasn't back yet and Aegon was still snoring.

"Come on, man, wake up. And go shower," Gendry said, trying to wake up Aegon.

"Leave me alone," he groaned.

"Come on, just do it before Jon comes back." The threat of Jon coming back seemed to work, and he stood up and dragged himself to the bathroom.

Gendry dropped his towel, took a pair of boxers, socks and a sweatshirt from his bag, and got dressed, pulling on his jeans as well. He was packing his bag, when he heard a knock on the door.

"It's Jon, can you open up?" He yelled from the other side of the door, and Gendry let him in – Jon had bought donuts and a large bottle of yogurt, so they could share.

"So tell me more about this dream," Jon asked.

"Okay. So there was this girl, she's short, with dark hair – but still brown, like yours – grey eyes too."

"Are you sure you didn't dream of a female version of Jon?" Aegon asked coming from the bathroom door, this time more awake, but unfortunately, Gendry and Jon noticed when they turned to look at him, naked from the waist down.

"God… couldn't you have put on something?" Gendry yelled.

"Sorry," Aegon said, taking the towel from his head to cover his waist, while making a move for his own bag. "Don't stop on my account, Gendry, continue your story."

"Okay, so she was wearing a Riverrun College t-shirt."

"Was she at the college or something?" Jon asked.

"No. In some forest, I think, with a giant dog."

"Any thing special about the forest?"

"It had a huge white tree with red leaves, and a face I think, probably kids did it," Gendry finished talking, and Jon slapped Gendry over the head.

"Did you actually hear anything said in class?"

"I did. Gendry didn't tell me that part last night," Aegon answered, already dressed and sitting on the bed.

"What's going on?" Gendry asked, feeling that they knew more than him.

"That's a Goodswood, Gendry," Aegon said.

"A Gods what?"

"A Godswood, stupid," Jon said, which surprised him since Jon didn't usually call him stupid. "It's where people worship the Old Gods."

"Which probably means she's on the North. They cut most of the weirwoods here, on the south."

"Yes. While I don't think Riverrun is rich in weirwoods, we better check out the college first."

"Okay," Gendry said, a bit stunned by his friends' knowledge.

Not long after they were out of the motel, driving in the exact direction they had came from, trying to find their way north instead of south. It took almost twenty-two straight hours of driving to make just bit past King's Landing, Gendry had taken a break from driving, and as resting against the window, while Jon slept in the backseat.

"We should stop at the next motel," Aegon said. "I can't drive anymore."

"Okay," Gendry whispered, he was as exhausted to drive as his friend, but he was still the one who went to find somewhere to sleep on.

The place was awful, worst than the ones before, but they still had a bed. Sleep did not come easy to Gendry that night, he wasn't sure if he was scared of dreaming of her again or of not dreaming, but he knew he was scared none the less; in the end, the next morning he couldn't remember any of the dreams he had.

Wanting to leave that place, they packed really quickly, and started their trip north, soon finding that the roads where in worst state then the ones south, especially when they left the main road, the Kingsroad.

It was dark outside when they finally arrived to the Riverrun College, Gendry parked his car by the door of some bar, since they all needed a drink. But the bar was rather different from the ones they were used too, at least different and more crowded than _Night's Watch_.

Aegon tried to get the drinks from the counter, but he couldn't reach it, since the bartenders only seemed to be serving girls.

"Couldn't get anything. It seems the bartender likes boobs more than money," Aegon said.

"Let's just get out of here," Jon said, but turning to the front exit, they found it too crowed to even think about going through there.

"There's a back door," Gendry pointed out, and they moved to it, luckily it wasn't closed. "That place was awful, so much noise and…" Gendry was saying, before they were interrupted by a noise, and turning to its source, they found something they didn't want to see – a naked ass.

The girl that was pressed against the wall, noticing them quickly pulled the guy away, and while arranging her clothes and hair, she ran inside the bar; while the guy tried to put his jeans up, calling for the girl.

"Oh… fuck it…" he said, turning to them.

"Sorry, man, we didn't mean to interrupt something," Aegon said. "We didn't know anyone was here. We just wanted to get out of there."

"You're not from here, right?" The man asked, before they could answer, he said. "And I know that bar sucks – I just go there to pick up chicks. Come one, I will take you to a real bar. You at least own me a beer."

The boys traded a look between the three, but they decided to follow the older boy, they were walking for a few blocks, when the other boy asked.

"So where are you from? And I'm Theon Greyjoy, by the way."

"We're from King's Landing. I'm Aegon Griff." Aegon said, not being comfortable enough to use his new found name. "This is Gendry Waters," he said pointing to Gendry, and then to Jon. "And this is Jon Snow."

"It's good to meet you. Now come on, we are almost at the Crossroads Pub."

"Why are we following this guy we know from anywhere else?" Jon whispered to Gendry, but Aegon just kicked him and told him to shut up.

They continued following the guy, who kept talking non-stop, probably still about the girls on the bar they had came from, but Gendry had close off awhile ago. Only waking up when they finally arrived to the bar, right after Theon opened the door, they could immediately see that this bar was different from the other, emptier and quieter – the only people present were a couple of older gentleman – maybe teachers – and a few guys playing darts.

"Welcome to the Crossroads Pub," Theon said. "Go take a seat. I'm going to order some beer for us."

They took the closest booth, and sat waiting for Theon to came back with four beers, he took a sit next to Jon, when Gendry asked, not being able to hold much longer.

"Was that girl Jeyne?"

"Jeyne?!" Aegon exclaimed.

"So you noticed my tattoo," Theon said, laughing, probably since it was in his right butt cheek. "And no, Jeyne is back home."

"What you cheat on your soulmate?" Gendry asked shocked, wondering how could someone do this. They were going crazy following their marks, and this guy just didn't give a fuck.

"It's not cheating, if she doesn't know what we are. We aren't together."

"But you know who she is." Gendry confirmed when Theon nodded, prompting Jon to ask.

"Why don't you just tell her?"

"God. I'm in my twenties; I don't want to settle, right now," the guy said, but Gendy could still not picture it. "I always thought I wouldn't get a tattoo, most Greyjoys don't. My father called me a pussy and threw me out when he found out." Neither of them knew what to say.

"That sucks," Aegon finally said.

"I thought if I would get a name would be Robb's."

"Robb's? You gay?"

"No. Robb is my best friend. I'm talking about a red tattoo." Once again neither of them understood, and their faces seemed to give it away. "I guess you all have black tattoos," he said, pointing to Jon's wrist. "Man, it's obvious. It's either that or you cut yourself – which may be possible, you look a bit emo," Theon said, and Aegon couldn't help but laugh and send a _I told you so_ a look to Jon.

"Just explain the red tattoo thing," Jon insisted, changing the subject.

"Where have you been living? It's when you have a soulmate, but it's not romantic. For example, the King – Robert Baratheon – has my best friend's father's name tattooed on him, and it's not romantic in any way," it couldn't be, everyone heard how much of playboy he was. "He sleeps around, and most guys who act like that don't get romantic marks – another reason I thought I wouldn't get one."

"Does your friend's father have the tattoo too?"

"Oh noo… it's a fucked story, he's married to his soulmate…"

"What's fucked about that?" Gendry asked.

"His mark is on his chin, and appeared when she was dating his brother," he said smiling. "Do you know who are yours?"

"No. But we're looking for them," Aegon said.

"Are you crazy? It's a suicide mission."

"But you know yours. How's that fair?" Gendry asked.

"It's not... But I've always know her, she's best friends with my best friend's younger sister. She hangs out in their house as much as me – and I care for her as a friend, and I'm not ready to commit to her," the guy said, and right now it actually seemed he cared. "Now I've told you about my mark, now tell me your stories."

"We don't know anything but her names," Jon said.

"But I did have a dream, and that's what lead us here," Gendry said. "You go to the Riverrun college, right?"

"Yes, man. Go, trouts!"

"Do you know any girl who goes to this college and has a huge dog?"

"No. The only huge dog I know it's Robb's – Grey Wind. No girl, can you tell me her name?" Theon asked, but Gendry didn't feel comfortable sharing something so personal.

"Sorry, but…"

"Right. I get it. It's personal, I wouldn't tell you if you hadn't seen my ass." Theon said laughing. "But can you tell me anything about her."

"She's small, and has dark hair, grey eyes."

"I can't remember any girl at school looking like that. I'm sorry, man – I know that must suck after driving for so long. Also how are you doing this? My father wouldn't give a shit, but I suppose most parents would worry about their kids doing something forbidden."

"We lived in an orphanage, they had to let us go sometime."

"Ohhh… sorry, guys. Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?"

"No, we wanted to get a beer before looking for a room."

"Come on, I can talk to Beric about you spending the night here. They have an inn upstairs, at a good price."

After that talk they finally had a place to sleep, Gendry had to admit it was better than the motels, more cosy and familiar – it smelled nicer too. They got the car and their bags quickly before making it to their room, each of them had taken a shower and they were sharing a room with two bunk beds.

"So guys, I was thinking about applying to college after all this is over," Aegon said. "I have the money, and I would like to take business and some art classes and everything, I think I would like that."

"Really?" Gendry asked, he had never been the smartest at school, so he wasn't sure he could ever handle college, even if he had the money – but maybe it was the right choice for Aegon.

"Yeah… You know, I like school, I tried getting a scholarship but couldn't, but this is my chance."

"I'm happy for you," Jon said, from the upper bunk. "I think you'll be good at it. You know, I would like to join the army, I always dreamed of joining when I turned eighteen, but by then I had a job and everything – and now I don't know if I should do it."

Gendry wanted to yell no, Jon was his best friend and he didn't want to loose him when he was fighting miles away, but Gendry also knew he would always support him.

"It's a choice you need to make, Jon, on your own. What about you, Gendry? What do you wanna do?"

"I want to find Arya, and then figure it out from there. We will keep going north, right?"

"Right," both his friends said at the same time, and so their journey continued.


	4. Tempted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the last chapter is here!!   
> This is dedicated to Lady3jane, who’s birthday was yesterday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!), which really made me write my butt off this weekend to get this finished yesterday (which I did, but I took today to proofread it – but I still warn you this is not betaed and I’m not a native English speaker, so there may be some typos).  
> This is also the fill for the last prompt of Arya and Gendry week (yes, that week back in July – don’t judge me…) – Tempted. And since it’s Arya and Gendry, it ends with their story, but if there’s interest I’ll write the story of our other two courageous lovestruck boys, (or other characters/stories from this universe, the ones that been mentioned, or if you ask for the right ones – I do have some ideas, that won’t make everyone happy obviously, so that’s a risk you can choose to take) – also don’t promise when I would get them done.  
> Enjoy!!

They had been travelling for a few days, when they finally arrived to the North, the place was huge and they carefully made it through every city, still planning to stay a few days in the capital – Winterfell.

They were one day from the capital, walking through their last stop, when they heard some weird noise, calling for their attention.

_Just ignore it_ , Gendry wanted to say, since he was tired, but that wasn’t like him, someone could need help, someone could be in danger.

Jon took the lead; the sounds got louder each step they took, deeper into the woods. It seemed that something or someone was scratching the trees.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Gendry asked. _Really, if I wanted to kill someone, this would be the way to do it._

“I have a good feeling about this,” Jon murmured. A feeling – that was what the dream had given Gendry, maybe this was Jon’s sign…

_…But it wasn’t… it couldn’t be…_

“Jon… that’s…” Gendry whispered.

“It’s that the one you saw?” Jon asked, moving closer.

“No. The one I saw was grey with golden eyes,” Gendry answered, the creature in front of them was all white with astonishing red eyes. “It can be dangerous,” Gendry said but it fell to deaf ears, as Jon walked closer and opened his hand just at the reach of its fangs.

“Jon, it’ll bite your hand off,” Aegon said, while he tried to grab Jon’s arm to pull him back, immediately the animal growled at Aegon.

“He’s a friend,” Jon said, and Gendry wasn’t sure if he was talking to the beast or them.

It took awhile but the animal came to rest his muzzle into Jon’s hand, and then started licking his fingers.

“See he doesn’t want to hurt us. He’s friendly,” Jon told them, looking over his shoulder.

“What do we do with him?” Aegon asked.

“We keep him,” Jon said like it was the most obvious thing. “He means something, guys. He needed me to find him,” he told them seriously. “He’s a direwolf, they are very rare, mostly live in the wild, north of the wall. By your description, the animal you saw is one too, and he’s the best chance of finding his species, and with that Arya.” Gendry didn’t want to believe, it seemed all to strange to him, but seeing the direwolf looking up when Jon said Arya gave him hope; Jon seemed to have picked it up as well, because he asked. “Do you recognize the name Arya?” The direwolf looked up again, and moved closer to Jon. “So, Gendry, there you have your answer. What do you want to do?”

“Take him,” Gendry said, moving out of the woods, followed by Aegon and Jon, with the direwolf right at his feet.

“So what should I call you?” Jon asked the direwolf (or himself), the silence was long, and while Gendry didn’t look back, he wondered if his friend had lost it. “Ghost, I think. You’re quiet, and you look like one.”

They moved back to the car, and got in, giving up looking more in this place, and just make it to the capital. While Gendry drove, and Aegon took the passenger seat, Jon tried to get Ghost into the backseat.

“Please, don’t let your pet ruin my backseat.”

“His name is Ghost,” Jon protested, before relaxing into the backseat.

While Gendry drove, he could see Ghost resting his head in Jon’s lap, while Jon looked very pensive, wrapping his hands in the direwolf’s fur. They stayed in silent, until their car finally crossed the city limits of Winterfell.

“Guys, we’ve arrived to Winterfell,” Gendry said, rather loud, waking up Aegon and bringing Jon away from his thoughts. “What should we do first?”

“Find a place to sleep,” Aegon said. “And then some food. I’m thinking that maybe we get something from a supermarket, and eat at the hotel – we need to get into a good one, if they’re letting your dog in.”

“Sorry about that,” Jon muttered, still enamoured with his new pet.

"I'm rich now. So I don't see a problem," Aegon said grinning, still beyond happy with the reality of having this kind of money.

They drove to the closer supermarket, and while Gendry parked the car, Jon kept going on about getting some dog’s food.

“That’s a fucking wolf!! What do you think dog food will do?!” Aegon asked. “We’ll get you some raw meat or something,” he said, before both he and Gendry walked into the supermarket.

Aegon immediately made it to the liquor shelves, while Gendry looked at the canned food, looking for something good to eat, and easy to cook.

“Aegon, look at that guy,” Gendry said noticing one of the workers, pilling the cans, and pulled on Aegon’s shirt, bringing him all the way from the liquor shelves to the food canned.

“For fuck's sake, I don't want to see someone's butt crack,” Aegon told him with disgusted look in his face, before turning to look at the canned food as well.

“Not that, looked above it – the name.”

“It’s rude to read other guy’s name. That’s like bro code.”

“You never had a problem before. Just fucking look,” and then he did. “Can you see if it’s black or red?”

“I can’t say. Sorry, man…”

“No need to be sorry. I’m going to talk to him.”

“No… no… you can’t,” Aegon said pulling him back.

“Why?! Just having a little chat.”

“Okay, I’m not going to get involved in that. I’m going to pay, you do whatever you want, just don’t get thrown in jail.”

“Sure,” Gendry said, leaving Aegon to do the rest of the shopping alone, and went to look for the worker with the tattoo, finally finding in by the fruit section, this time with his back covered. “Sorry, could I talk to you?”

“I’m new here, my father works here – so he got me a part-time job. I really don’t know where things are yet.”

“It’s not about that,” Gendry admitted. “Do you know the person on your tattoo?”

“What?!” The boy asked, reaching to cover his back.

“I can’t see it now, I noticed a few minutes ago. Can you just tell me if you know the girl tattooed on your back?”

“I'm sorry, I'm not sure if it's different from where you come from, but in the North, our tattoos are not a public thing,” Gendry couldn't help but feel a bit offended by the way the boy talked to him.

“I agree, and I wouldn't have come to you if it wasn't important,” he told him, but continued talking. “But like you said it's private, and I can't talk here,” Gendry wasn't sure how he convinced the boy, but he somehow did.

“I hope I don't regret this,” he murmured before telling him to follow, taking him behind the butchery, whispering something to the man who controlled this zone, by the similarities Gendry would say it was his dad. “So what do you need?”

“Do you know the girl?”

“Why should I tell you?” Gendry knew he couldn’t convince this guy with just his words, so he started unbuttoning the top of his shirt.

“Sorry, if I gave you the wrong idea, but…” the guy said, trying to move away, and Gendry understanding his meaning, laughed and said.

“It’s not that, man. Just look,” he said pointing to the tattoo, he was the first person besides Jon and Aegon to see it – but he could also be the only chance to find her.

“Ohhh…” the boy murmured, stopping himself from touching Gendry’s chest. “You know it can not be the same girl.”

“It's an uncommon name,” Gendry protested.

“Okay. I guess it's worth a try. Follow me,” the boy said, leading him outside. “Also if you're wondering, it's red - my tattoo is red.” Gendry was awfully relieved, and feeling a bit dumb by following a guy who could have the same soulmate as him and access to butcher knives.

“I'm Gendry, by the way, I'm from King's Landing.”

“Mycah. What brings you this north?”

“My friends and I decided to look for our soulmates.”

“That's never good, only brings trouble.”

“Superstitions, we wish to believe,” Gendry was saying, when Mycah stopped and pointed to the horizon.

“Do you see that house? The giant one. It's hard to miss if you drive by there, it says Starks at the door – that's where she lives,” the boy told him, and somehow his look showed pity, and Gendry could suspect why – Arya wasn't like him, she probably came from money. “For the Gods...” Mycah yelled next, and looking over he saw that it was Jon's pet.

“Ohhh... sorry... my friend found him. It doesn't seem that dangerous...”

“It’s a direwolf, dangerous to the people he doesn't know, he can kill,” Mycah said, while petting the animal, which made everything stranger. “His name is Ice, he's one of the Stark pets. Each of the kids has one, five kids but six direwolves, Ice has always been a bit of outcast – I’ve no idea why he would look to your friend…” Mycah was saying, until Jon joined them, and a strange look seemed to pass through Mycah’s face. “Sorry, who are you?”

“He’s Jon Snow, he’s a friend of mine from home,” Gendry answered his question.

“Ohhh…” Mycah said, before shaking Jon’s hand, still looking like he had seen a ghost. “You got a familiar face I suppose. Were you the one who found Ice?”

“Ice?”

“Ghost, Jon.”

“Yes, he came to me,” Jon said. “Why?”

“He’s one of the Starks’ direwolves,” Gendry said. “And Arya may be a Stark,” but before Jon could react, Aegon appeared.

“I hope there a good reason for you two leaving me alone to carry all the groceries alone.”

“There is, we have a lead on Arya.”

“Oh… the supermarket boy helped, are you sure wise to trust someone with the same soulmate?”

“What?!” Jon exclaimed too.

“Relax, you two. Mycah’s is a red mark.”

“Arya and I have been friends since childhood,” the boy told them. “I can’t help you more, I need to get back to work,” he said.

“Ahhh… okay… Thank you so much for the help, Mycah.”

“You’re welcome, Gendry. Treat Arya right,”

“I will do,” Gendry said, before each to different directions.

“So you’re sure we can trust this guy?” Aegon asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Gendry answered.

“Why?? Maybe because he has her name marked too.”

“As a friend, dumbass,” Gendry retorted, but Aegon kept pointing out the downsides of Mycah’s help all the way to the car, until he asked.

“What do you think, Jon?”

“What??”

“Weren't you listening??” Aegon asked immediately.

“Sorry. What were you asking?”

“If we should trust Mycah, after all he has Arya's name in his skin too. He could be lying.”

“Or he could not be,” Jon said, holding tighter to Ghost's fur (or Ice's, he wasn't sure now), and Gendry understood Jon's problem, if Mycah was telling the truth Ghost belonged to someone else, and Gendry could see how sad that made him, not knowing how Ghost seemed to put his friend at peace and happier.

“You’re being too trusty, this will end badly,” Aegon protested again.

“Shut up, you’re just jealous we found Arya first. If it was Myrcella, your talk would be completely different,” Gendry said, shutting Aegon up.

They packed the things quietly on the car, before they drove back to the hotel, Gendry was still amazed by being in a hotel like this – big and luxurious not made for orphan kids, unless they were the sole heir of one of the richest family in all of Westeros.

“Hey, Jon,” Gendry called to his friend, who had been distracted since their talk with Mycah. “You don’t need to worry.”

“Why did Ghost call for me?” He asked. “I know it sounds stupid but I really felt like he belonged with me,” he said, gripping the fur once again not wanting to let go.

“I don’t know. Maybe it knew we need to find the Starks.”

“But the problem is that it’s you who needs, not me.”

“Joy could be here.”

“I don’t think so. We would be too lucky if they were together – and we’ve never been lucky. And don’t you dare mention Aegon’s money – he can be better than us with dead parents and no money – but you know he would give everything for his family, especially after finding out what happened.”

“I know… And I understand, if you don’t want to go, you can stay here with Ghost.

“No, it’s not right. They are probably missing him. He deserves to be with his.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. Now we should go eat something, and then rest. We have a big day tomorrow.”

They did as Jon suggested, but Gendry was laying down and he couldn’t sleep, multiple sceneries went through his mind, especially the bad ones, that he would mess up everything to do with her. Somehow he was tempted to deny everything and ignore his need to go, just postpone a few more days, but then he closed his eyes and pictured her, with her dark hair and grey eyes, and he was just tempted to touch her and finally have her.

He finally fell asleep around 4 a.m., after he talked with Aegon who had once again been up because of yet another nightmare about his family.

That following morning neither of them knew what to say, they all trembled with fear of what would happen – Arya was the first soulmate they found, they would know if their crazy and stupid plan actually worked. But even all the nervousness wasn’t enough to stop them from asking for directions and get into the car.

The drive to her house was more disconcerting than Gendry had thought. He doubted over and over again if he was doing the right thing, if this wasn't all a big mistake and that he should let fate work his way.

“Relax, Gendry,” Aegon said, dropping a hand on his shoulder. “Everything will be okay,” but Gendry still didn't believed him.

Finding the house was easier than he thought, even if they didn’t have that many points of reference, and neither of them knew the place. The house, which could only be called a mansion, was light grey, with a long entrance path, and fences surrounding the property. On their mail box it read _Stark_ in beautiful cursive writing, it seemed taken from all those 50’s suburbs they had seen in movies, and something they had never seen at the capital.

He parked his old beat car, and once again he questioned his decision, especially now that he suspected how much money she must have – she was better for Aegon than him, he had nothing to offer her.

The front entrance was intimidating on its own – luckily when it opened, the door didn't creak, and the feeling of being on a horror movie was no longer present; Ghost/Ice (Gendry wasn’t sure on the name yet) ran ahead.

“It seems it really is his home,” Jon whispered.

“Maybe so. But cheer up, man. Gendry is gonna meet his lady,” Aegon said, before turning to Gendry, finally at the door. “Now rang the bell.”

“Maybe…” Gendry said, but seeming to take too long for Aegon’s liking, he rang the bell himself – one time, than two, than three. “Maybe no one’s home, maybe they’re at work.”

“Gendry, we didn’t travel half a country to give up. Now just knock on the fucking door again.”

_I’m doing the same to him when it’s his turn_ , Gendry thought before he reached his hand for the door bell, but before he could ring it, the door was opened.

A beautiful girl was on the other side, she was just a bit shorter than him, probably taller than Jon, and around the same height as Aegon, she had long hair, dropping along her breasts – _don’t look, perv_ – in the most vivid color of orange or red – he wasn’t sure – but it look like autumn leaves.

“How can I help you?” She asked, making the boys turn their eyes to her face, all but Aegon, who was still admiring her legs.

“We… we are looking for…” Gendry started, but he wasn’t sure how to express it. “I’m Gendry,” he tried another approach. “This is Jon and Aegon.”

“Hi,” Jon said, before adding. “We found your direwolf, at least we think it’s yours.” Jon was always the smart one of the three, Aegon was quite good at getting them out off trouble but he was still too mesmerized by the girl.

“Ohhh… you found Ice,” she exclaimed happily, and noticing the direwolf, she called for the pet which came running. “Oh… come in,” she said opening the door to them. “Can I get you anything to eat?”

“No, thanks.”

“But your name would be good,” Aegon said, showing her that smile every girl fell head over heels for.

“Ohh… sorry, I’m Sansa.” _She’s not Arya, she’s not Arya_ – Gendry already knew after all he did believe Arya was that girl who appeared in his dreams. “I was making coffee for me, do you mind if I go get it?”

“Of course not. Go, we’re the ones who showed up unannounced.”

As soon as Sansa left the room, Gendry turned to Aegon and threatened him.

“Don’t even think about it, Aegon.”

“What?!” He asked in his fake innocent voice.

“Behave, do not sleep with her. You’re my friend and you’ve a soulmate, and she may be mine’s something… so don’t mess with it.”

“Okay… okay…”

“Now, Gendry, I bought you sometime, but you need to make the question – we may even be in the wrong house.”

“We’re not in the wrong house. And yes, I’ll ask it – I just don’t want to rush anything.”

“Are you sure you’re okay and don’t want anything?” The girl asked again, coming to the room.

“Thanks, Sansa, we’re fine. We ate before we left,” Jon said. “Besides Ice, there’s another reason for us to be here.”

“Really?!” The girl’s eyes seemed to lift up. “What is it?”

Jon touched Gendry’s shoulder, pushing him forward, and he could do nothing else but take a deep breath and start talking.

“So I turned 18 not that long ago, and as it happened, I got a name… and we’ve been looking, and it led us here,” he said, trying to keep himself from pulling on the couch cloth.

“Okay…” the girl said, trying to keep her voice normal, even if she was excited, he was wondering how she would react when he told her the name wasn’t _Sansa_.

“So we… I want to know if there’s anyone called Arya living here?”

“Arya?!” She doubled checked, turning sadder, before recuperating. “Arya!! Yes, Arya – she’s my younger sister.”

“Younger?”

“Yeah, she just turned 15.” _Fifteen is not that bad, right?!_

“Ohh… is she home?”

“No, sorry. It’s only my mom and I. She had… something today – sorry can’t remember.”

“No problem. Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“For lunch time, around 1 p.m.,” Sansa answered.

“We can go for a ride around the city and come back after lunch,” Jon suggested, but before either of them could answer, an older woman entered the room, who could only be Sansa’s mother.

“Sansa, Ice is on the back. He must have found his way back. Can you text you siblings? They’ve been wor---” the lady stopped immediately, looking at them. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had visits, Sansa,” she said.

“They found Ice, Mom,” but the woman didn’t answer, she didn’t seem to even be listening, her eyes darting between the three of them, like she had just seen a ghost. “Mom!! Mom, are you listening to me?!”

“Sorry, sweetheart. What did you say?”

“They found Ice, Mom. What’s wrong?” Sansa asked, since her mother’s face still looked pale.

“Sorry, can you please just tell me your names?” Jon was the one to step forward, and the lady stepped closer to him almost immediately.

“I’m Jon, this is Gendry, and Aegon.”

“Aegon…” Gendry thought he heard her whisper and shared a look with Aegon, before shrugging his shoulders. “Sansa, can you keep them company? I need to make a call.”

“We were just leaving…” Gendry tried to say.

“No, please stay,” she said before leaving the room.

“Sorry,” Sansa apologized. “My mom doesn’t usually behave this strangely.”

“I hope it’s nothing we have done,” Jon said.

“No, of course not,” she said, before asking and changing the subject – to one much more uncomfortable to Gendry. “So how did you find us? Arya?”

“This will sound crazy,” Gendry admitted. “I had a dream… and it kind of led us here, besides a few troubles on the way.”

“I hope nothing too bad. Because I do have to warn you that my sister isn’t the easiest person,” she said, before quickly adding. “Ohh… she’s great, she’s loyal and really cares for the people dear to her. But the fact that you’re her soulmate – romantic, right?” Gendry nodded. “Yeah, she’s still a bit in a no dating thingy… So I’m totally not sure how she’ll react to you.” Gendry didn’t know what to say, he had expected a challenge but not about being a girl who didn’t like dating, weren’t suppose soulmates to touch and everything be fixed, he hoped so…

“Do you have any advices for Gendry?” Aegon asked.

“I don’t know, but there must be a reason you’re paired – you must have things in common. Just be her friend,” Sansa suggested to him, smiling warmly at him.

“Sansa,” her mother called, entering the room. “Your father is coming home in a bit.”

“So early?!” Sansa exclaimed, it seemed to be a weird thing to have her father home so early.

“Yes, dear. Boys, do you mind if I ask you something?” The woman said sitting down in front of them, after they agreed and she thought for a bit, she asked. “How did you meet?”

“We grew up in an orphanage together in King’s Landing,” Aegon enlightened.

“Ohhh… I’m sorry for your losses. Did you know your parents?”

“My mom died when I was a child, it’s hard for me to remember,” Gendry said sadly, it was always hard to remember her blond hair and melodic voice. “Never knew my father.”

“I’ve been in the system since I was a baby, never new anything,” Jon said, and Aegon added.

“Me too,” not wanting to tell a perfect strange about his recent discoveries.

“This may sound weird, but would you mind staying a bit longer. My husband would like to talk to you.” _Does she know?! Does her husband know?!_

“I’m not sure…”

“It’s nothing bad, boys. He just needs to talk to you. You’ll be okay,” the woman reassured them. “Ohhh… I’m Catelyn Stark, by the way. Would you like something to eat?”

“No, thank you. There’s no need,” Jon said.

“Can you at least tell us what is it about?” Aegon asked.

“Sorry, but no. I think it’s better to wait for my husband. But do you need anything else from us? Can we do anything for you?” And with that Sansa looked at him, forcing to tell the truth, and with that he admitted to Mrs Stark, that her youngest daughter was his soulmate, that this orphan boy from King’s Landing belonged to his daughter.

Her mother reacted better that he could have foreseen, even if it was followed by a detailed inquisition, finishing it only when her husband came home, and after introducing himself asked them to follow them to his office.

The office was as intimidating as the house had been when they first arrived, but while the size and its furtinure intimidated, the decoration put them at ease – there were no guns or heads of dead animals, there were only pictures and a ton of drawings, that ranged from doodles of a toddler to amazing portraits in charcoal.

“I’m really sorry if this all seems to weird, and what I’ll say next it will be even worse, but you looked familiar to my wife and even more to me, and there may be a possibility that I know who your parents are.”

The boys shared a look not knowing what to think of this, but Aegon said.

“It won’t be a problem to listen, I suppose.”

“You don’t mind I talk freely in front of you three,” they shook their heads. “And can I call you by your first name?”

“Sure, sir,” Gendry said.

“Okay, boys,” he said picking up a frame from the table, before going to sit in the armchair next to the couch they had taken their places. “Look at this photo. This my best friend and I back in high school,” Mr Stark said giving them the photo, and looking at it, he couldn’t believe it and immediately shared a look with Jon.

“We… we… you look… you look like us,” Jon mumbled to himself, before asking, scared to hear the answer. “Are you my father?” Mr Stark shoock his head.

“No… that wouldn’t be possible. I only… my wife and I only…” he said awkwardly before scratching his head. “No, but I think I may be your uncle.”

Gendry could see everything turning inside Jon’s mind, and both he and Aegon took hold of his hands at the same time, and Jon took a deep breath before asking.

“So you have siblings?”

“I have one younger brother, he’s in the army. But I had two other siblings, a younger sister, called Lyanna, and an older brother, called Brandon.”

“Which one do you believe to be Jon’s parent?” Aegon asked.

“My brother was a playboy, a notorious playboy, but he died early. When were you born, Jon?” After his friend answered, Mr Stark continued. “Okay, it is possible it’s my brother, but I do think you’re my sister’s son.”

“Why?” Jon asked, and before Mr Stark continued he looked carefully at Aegon and then Gendry.

“I think it’s better I left that for the end. I should speak to your friends first about the boy on the picture and Aegon’s father. They were involved in my sister’s story.”

“What does my father have to do with this?” Aegon quickly asked, standing up, before Jon pulled him down.

“You know who your parents are? I thought you didn’t,” Mr Stark said.

“He hasn’t known for long, he discovered before we left the orphanage to look for… before we left the orphanage,” Gendry said.

“I don’t like telling people, it’s still too new,” Aegon said. “What does my father have to do with Jon’s possible mother?”

“Maybe you should let me talk to Jon alone?”

“No, please let them stay,” Jon pleaded.

“I’m not sure if Aegon wants to hear this story.”

“It can’t be worst than the news articles, I stay,” Aegon said, so Mr Stark continued.

“Okay, before the story, I just need to tell you who this is, Gendry. You knew your mother, right?”

“Yes, she raised me before she died.”

“You lived in King’s Landing, right? What did she do?”

“Yes, and she worked as a bartender at night and also provided laundry services.”

“Okay. Your father was… is a playboy, and especially after my sister died, he started drinking a lot, and that led to some more sometimes. You’re not the only kid he has fathered, more have been found – but he probably didn’t know about you, if he did he would have at least contributed with money. His name is Robert Baratheon.” Gendry knew who Robert Baratheon was, everyone knew the name of the King, and Gendry didn’t want to believe. He had seen the man around the bars a few times, and was notorious for spending more than half his money (hopefully his, and not the country’s) in the strip clubs of King’s Landing – it was also hard to believe that this Mr Stark, a family man, was best friends with someone like Robert Baratheon.

“Are you sure it’s him?”

“Pretty sure. Like I said you’re not the first. You have the ideal Baratheon look, and I don’t think it would be his brothers. One of them isn’t known for any of those types of activities – I don’t think he would go to a bar and have a one night stand, sorry for the language, Gendry. And the other brother is gay and also too young to have fathered you, Gendry.”

“Are you going to tell him I exist?”

“If you want. I won’t do anything about it if you don’t want me to. I just thought you should know.”

“Thanks for telling me. But can you tell your sister’s story now.” And so Mr Stark started.

“Can you see the charcoal portraits? They are mostly my sister’s, she was very good at it, so good that during one summer when she was barely seventeen, she was invited to take a exclusive course in King’s Landing at the Targaryen academy. She accepted it, of course, it was a great experience, so she went – your father thought a class on music, he was known for playing the harp and the piano,” he told the last part particularly to Aegon.

“How does my father fit there?” Gendry asked.

“Ohh… yes, Robert had been dating Lyanna at the time,” he told Gendry. “The summer went perfectly well, there was no indication that anything was wrong, until we waited for her at the train station at the end of the summer and she didn’t come, and then we called and she didn’t answer – she had disappeared,” he told them, the man in front of them was obviously trying to look neuter and failing miserably. “My brother and father went to talk to the academy, while I stayed at home with Benjen – my youngest brother – it didn’t end well for them, they were both killed. And I still knew nothing of my sister, until I suspected something, the papers were publishing news about your father disappearance as well, Aegon.”

“My father…”

“If you want to leave, you can,” Mr Stark offered once again.

“No I want to hear.”

“So I remembered the letters she had sent, she talked so much about professor Targaryen, and then Rhaegar – I didn’t even pay attention to the change of how she addressed him. When I told Robert about my suspicions, he was furious and we marched south to look for her and your father – Robert believed your father had kidnapped her, I don’t know if it’s that or they just ran away together. And I can’t tell you even now.”

“You think Aegon is my brother?” Jon asked.

“Yes, I believe he’s your half brother. If we test your blood, and cross it with mine, and then Aegon’s, we can confirm it,” Mr Stark suggested, and look of hope crossed around Jon’s face.

“Are you saying my father cheated on my mother with a minor? Did Gendry’s father kill mine?” _Nooo… please not that – he couldn’t have Aegon hating him._ “And my mother, and sister, and tried to kill me?”

“No. He wanted to kill your father, that’s true, but he never once wanted to touch a hair in his family. His problem was with your father, not your mother or their kids,” Mr Stark said seriously. “He beat up your father, enough to put him on the hospital, he would have killed him if I hadn’t stopped him. Your father died with the rest of his family at their home, and with that there was no knowledge of Lyanna. Only in the next summer we got the news she had died, the causes were troubles giving birth, we couldn’t find the baby and were told that the baby could only have survived if there was medical help – while we tried to look, we reached the conclusion that you could only be dead.” And that seemed to be the end of the story, neither of them knew how to think, there was this entire past between them that they had never known about, Gendry just hoped that this didn’t made them hate him.

“Can we do the test today?” Jon asked immediately.

“I think so. Aegon?”

“Yes, of course. Jon, you know nothing could make me happier than actually be your older brother.”

“Thanks, man,” Jon said hugging him. “Are you coming with us, Gendry?”

“Could I wait here in the house, Mr Stark?”

“Of course, Gendry,” he said, before adding. “And let’s see if we have a talk a bit later, shall we? My wife didn’t forget to mention the true reason for you to be here.”

“Sir,… I…”

“We’ll talk later, Gendry,” Mr Stark said dropping his hand on his shoulder before passing him to walk with Jon and Aegon. Gendry could hear him ask Jon about Ice, and after hearing how his “nephew” found it, he offered it to Jon if the kids didn’t protest too much – it seemed every kid had a direwolf, but being 5 kids and 6 direwolves, Ice was a bit of a loner.

After they left, Gendry was left alone with Sansa, she gave him a tour of the house, and made small conversation with him, until the topic of conversation turned to Arya. She told him multiple stories – and midway to their conversations, Gendry had a bigger and more complete mental image of Arya. He had seen photos around the house, so he already knew, she had dark hair and grey eyes and was short and skinny for her age – he also had figure out that Theon, the boy from the Riverrun College, was a close friends of the Starks, and everything would have been faster if he had just told the boy Arya’s name; by Sansa’s story, Arya seemed like a very energetic person, who had a hard time being in the same place, who loved the outdoors, who didn’t seem to care much about her appearance, much to Sansa’s dismay, but most of all he learned that she was easy to be liked and to make friends – which was good news, even if Sansa’s warning about Arya’s thoughts on love still scared him.

They were back in the living room watching a TV competition, he wasn’t sure which one it was, but he could say Sansa was thrilled with it – she was yelling at the TV, and hugging her pillow, trying to keep the tears from falling.

He was distracted by another performance by a fourteen year old kid, when he heard the door, thinking that maybe Jon and Aegon were back he immediately turned his head, and while not seeing anyone yet, he heard a voice.

“Is anyone home?”

“In here,” Sansa yelled back, smiling goofy at Gendry, who now knew this was Arya.

“Is there something wrong?” Arya continued yelling, closer every second. “Mycah was acting so weird today. Firstly asking if anyone had come, and then insisting I came home earlier – seriously sometimes I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” And now she was finally in the room, she was jumping in one foot, while trying to take her _All Star_ off. “Ohhh… finally…” she said, before sitting down and starting to work on taking off the other. “Really never let me go to the park to play football with this again, I don’t care Mom is washing my good sneakers, I can steal Bran’s or something,” the girl said standing up with her shoes in hand, and only then did she notice him. “Ohhh… you have visits? Are you Sansa’s new boyfriend?” She asked, and before he could answer she added. “Really if you’re another jerk lying that you have her name in your skin, I’ll fucking end you.”

“Arya, language,” Arya’s mother warned, coming to the living room.

“Sorry, Mom. Hi, Mom!!”

“Arya, this is Gendry, and he’s definitely not my boyfriend,” Sansa said, and Gendry wanted to hide, that smile in her face was just giving too much away.

“Okay. Hi, Gendry – definitely not Sansa’s boyfriend,” Arya said, obviously thinking all this very weird, especially when her mother joined Sansa in the expectant look.

“Hello, Arya,” he finally said, thinking she was amazing – she didn’t even reach his shoulder, her hair was cut short, not even reaching her shoulders, and it was completely messy, she was wearing a long t-shirt, and shorts, and she had a few scraps in her knees.

“Man, are you going to shook my hand or not? Because I really want to shower before lunch,” and Gendry before even thinking shook her hand, and his chest started to hurt, right where the tattoo was, and by the look on Arya’s face she felt it too, she blushed, bit her lip and then ran away, yelling. “Going to shower.”

“So that went well,” he muttered, sitting down still holding into his chest.

“Are you okay?” Sansa asked worried, before Mrs Stark said.

“Your tattoo is in your chest, right?” He nodded. “That’s a normal thing to happen, when you touch your soulmate for the first time it burns – but I promise it’s just the first time,” she told him.

“Thanks.”

“And Arya will be okay, I’m sure. She’ll come down for lunch; you can talk to her then. Also Ned has texted – he and your friends are on their way home.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” he told her, before she went back to the kitchen, and he was left alone with Sansa and her stupid TV show.

The episode actually ended before he heard the water stop running, and Sansa changed to another channel with some comedy show on, but Gendry tried to figure out what was he going to tell Arya. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice, Sansa leaving the room and Arya coming downstairs.

“I suppose it’s black…”

“What?!

“The tattoo, it’s black.”

“Yes.”

“And was because of you that Mycah was acting weird?”

“Yes.”

“Can you say anything other than yes?”

“Yes,” he answered, and she smiled sheepishly at him. “Right, sorry. This is just…”

“Weird. Imagine to me. You had at least an idea what was going to happen, I was completely caught by surprise.”

“Right,” he admitted.

“Come on. I can show you the gardens, what you can tell me what a perv like you is doing here?”

“Wait, I’m not a perv,” he said standing up following her through the back door.

“Sure you aren’t? You’re like 20, and I just turned 15 – you know that’s a crime, right?”

“Firstly, I’m only 18. And secondly, it’s not a crime, because of the tattoo,” he said, falling in pace with her.

“Sure, go right to the point where the law is on your side for us to have sex.”

“No… I didn’t mean that. I just… I just…”

“You just wanted to make a point that you’re not a perv,” Arya said, and he confirmed. “See we complete each other sentences already.”

“I’m sorry if it bothers that I showed up like this,” he honestly said.

“I actually don’t know what to say. This is all very weird, I’ve never dreamed of meeting my soulmate, of having a knight or a prince coming for me,” _she’s comparing me to a prince._ “That’s always been my sister and her friend Jeyne – not me.” _That must be Theon’s Jeyne._

“I’m not asking you to marry me, Arya. I just got this tattoo, and it has always been just me, Jon and Aegon, and I found out I had someone else for me, so I wanted to look for you.”

“Don’t feel bad, Gendry, please. Fuck, just start by telling me about you. I’m sure you’ve been in the house for awhile, and my sister have told you a million things about me,” she said. “Start by telling me who are Aegon and Jon?”

“They’re my best friends, my roommates at the orphanage in Flea’s Bottom. They’re here, so you’ll get to meet them, they just went with your father for a paternity test.”

“Paternity test?!” She asked taking a step back.

“No, not your father as his father,” he said immediately, wanting to calm her down. “Uncle, Jon may be your cousin, and Aegon, his brother – it’s a bit of a mess, I suppose your parents would prefer to be the ones to explain.”

“Just tell me, Gendry,” she said, and her voice made him want to melt and just do what she said, but he couldn’t start this relationship that way.

“No way, Arya. Tell me about your football team instead,” he proposed and she didn’t seem to resist the idea.

“So it’s a five-a-side football team, you know what that is right?” she started by asking, and he nodded. “And we have a championships, all organized by us – one member of each of the ten teams in the championship. My team is Mycah – you seemed to have met, how?”

“At the supermarket yesterday. Noticed the tattoo and decided to ask him about it.”

“Surprised he answered.”

“Had to show mine first.”

“Hey, you haven’t showed it to me?! That’s the first thing Mycah did.” And with that he started unbuttoning his shirt. “Hey!! What are you doing?”

“It’s in my chest.”

“Yeahh… maybe show me later. So, like I was saying, it’s Mycah, Beth, Palla, my brother – Bran – and I. But Bran broke his foot this month so you’ve been playing either with my other brother, Rickon, who’s really young and with certain teams he’s not allowed to play yet, or Bran’s friend, Jojen, who really sucks at football.”

“Ohhh… sorry… I hope it’s nothing to bad with your brother.”

“No, it was on his climbing club, and he put his foot down wrong, and that happened – and he likes being pampered by Mom,” Gendry liked how enthusiastically she talked about football and her family, he was about to make another question, when he heard familiar voices. Jon was trying to hold Aegon back, who was yelling their names and singing _Gendry and Arya in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G._

“So I guess those are your friends?”

“Yes. The one singing is Aegon, and the other is Jon,” they approached his friends, and Arya and Jon immediately stopped and looked at each other, and Aegon said.

“I did say you dreamed of a female version of Jon.”

“Shut up, Aegon,” the three of them said at the same time.”

“Hey!! We haven’t have even met, you can’t tell me to shut up, that’s like against the rules,” Aegon protested, before dropping to one knee, and asking for her hand. “Gendry never knew how to woo the ladies,” and with that Arya instead of giving him her hand to kiss, she slapped him over the head, before turning to Gendry.

“I have to say your friend is a bit stupid.”

“Hey,” Aegon said standing up, rubbing his head. “That hurt.”

“You deserve it. I’m Arya, by the way,” she said giving him her hand to shake, and then did the same to Jon.

“Jon.”

“You’re the one that may be my cousin.”

“Yeah…”

“Everything seems like a weird coincidence. But welcome to the family, Jon. Come on a paternity test isn’t needed, you look exactly like Dad and I, it’s good to not be the only not redhead kid in the family.”

“Happy to help,” Jon said.

“Okay, now I need you to tell me some embarrassing stories about Gendry,” and before he could protest. “Don’t bother protesting, I’m sure Sansa already filled your head with some of mine.”

“Ohhh… I have good ones,” Aegon said.

“Not sure if I should be scared or excited,” Arya stated, while Gendry thought exactly the same.

And with that Aegon started telling some of the most embarrassing stories, like that time in elementary school he was caught by some girls in his class eating boogers, and when they accused him, he denied it and said it was a foreign sweet, he ended up feeding the girls is own boogers.

“Firstly, this just shows I’m good thinking on my feet. And really you should question the judgement of the girls who believed me.”

“You painted them pink, Gendry, and put it in wrapping paper, you went through all that work just to prove a point – and they didn’t believe you, Gendry, you tried to feed it to them and they saw through it.”

“Okay… I was booger boy during the entire second grade.”

“It only stopped, because you became princess underpants,” Aegon said.

“Okay, I think all this reminiscing is enough,” Gendry told them.

“Come on, Gendry. I promise I want call you any of that,” she promised, before adding. “I can find my own embarrassing name for you.” Aegon was probably ready to make another inappropriate comment, when Sansa came outside to call them all for lunch – and Gendry smiled at the thought that since he, Jon and Aegon left they haven’t been called for any meals, how things seemed to be so different during that time.

Inside the dining room, the table was perfectly ready and everything smelt like heaven, everyone in the family took their places, leaving them three free places, Gendry noticed another presence at the table, a boy who didn’t seem to ignore them either.

“Who are they, Mom?”

“This is Jon, Gendry and Aegon. This is our youngest boy, Rickon.”

“What are they doing here?”

“Gendry is Arya’s soulmate, and Jon and Aegon are his friends,” Sansa said, making both Gendry and Arya blush, the later kicking her sister under the table.

“Another?!” Rickon exclaimed. “And he doesn’t have a beard.”

“For fu—Pete’s sake, Rickon, we have explained to you a million times that every ones mark isn’t on their face. You’ve seen Uncle Robert’s, and Mycah’s, why can’t you stop messing this up,” Arya said, clearly exasperated by her brother’s comment. “Dad has---”

“Theon told us, we met him at Riverrun’s College, we had no idea he was somehow connected to you.”

“He’s my oldest son’s best friend. The boy practically lived here during high school,” Mrs Stark said.

The rest of the lunch when peacefully like that, everyone shared the stories they wanted, Arya went into great detail about her football practice, while Rickon told them about the new game he and Shaggydog – his direwolf, _ohh… I haven’t seen Arya’s yet, maybe after lunch, if Mr Stark doesn’t steal me away_ – and Sansa convinced her parents to let her go and sleep at Jeyne’s house.

But that, or the food wasn’t the most exciting thing, that was the simple looks between Arya and he, maybe it wouldn’t be romance at first, but he liked her and he knew she liked him too, or at least didn’t hate him – that time before lunch had been enough to convince him of that.

She was Arya and he was Gendry. He was the boy with her name carved in dark paint, and someday he would find his way into her heart, and it all started with an afternoon of playing videogames sitting side by side against her bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! And remember my question in the first note about if there’s any interest in Jon and Aegon’s story; or any other characters, either mentioned (like Robert; Ned, Catelyn and Brandon; Theon and Jeyne) or not (if you want to check which pairings a particular character would have, before you ask for it, you can.). If this all sucked, and you don’t want any more that’s valid too (but I do hope you liked it…)


End file.
